Council Passes Law Protecting Renters From Utility Cutoffs

A law aimed at protecting apartment dwellers from interruptions in their water and electricity service when landlords fail to pay their utility bills won unanimous approval Wednesday from the Los Angeles City Council.

Council members, acting on complaints from renters whose utilities have been shut off in “master-metered” buildings, approved an ordinance that would allow the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to place a tax lien on the property of landlords who refuse to pay their bills.

The law, expected to be signed by Mayor Tom Bradley, would also allow the city’s Department of Public Works to provide trash disposal service to tenants if landlords fail to provide it and to tack the cost of such services onto property owners’ tax bills.

The ordinance, which passed on a 13-0 vote, was written after months of wrangling over thousands of utility cutoffs at apartment houses--lasting from a few hours to several days--in disputes over utility bills.

$15,000 Water Bill

In one highly publicized incident last November, the Department of Water and Power curtailed water service to a Wilshire Boulevard apartment building for a week in an attempt to compel the owner to pay a $15,000 water bill the department said was owed at another property.

The property owner steadfastly refused to pay the bill, and residents at the three-story building were forced to make several trips a day to a nearby printing company to obtain water. City officials, outraged over the plight of the tenants, prompted the DWP board to review its cutoff policy and impose a moratorium on such practices.

In the meantime, other avenues were sought to pursue recalcitrant landlords. As the council voted Wednesday on the law, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, acting chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called it a sound and fair ordinance.

“This is a problem that has occurred many times throughout the city, and this is a means to correct it,” Yaroslavsky said. “The Water and Power Department is eager to correct it. This gives them the enabling legislation to do that so that we’ll never have that situation recur.”

Barbara Zeidman, head of the rent stabilization division of the Community Development Department, said that during the first six months of last year, 1,500 apartment house cutoffs were reported, adding that the law will help solve the problem. She added that both tenant and landlord groups have been receptive to the ordinance.

Under the proposal, the DWP would be given the option of placing the amount of the unpaid utility bills as well as any penalties on a property tax bill rather than shuting off utilities. If such an action is taken, an owner would be notified and a public hearing would be held. The City Council would make the final decision on whether to levy an assessment.

Assessment Options

If the council approves an assessment, it may be either for delinquent billings or for the estimated amount of billings expected to come due in the next fiscal year, if officials believe that a landlord may fall into arrears again.

That provision drew some criticism from Georgette O’Conner, representing the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, who told council members Wednesday that property owners should not have to pay such bills in advance.

Under the ordinance, the tax lien procedure would not be available to such privately owned utilities as Southern California Gas Co. and Southern California Edison Co.